Another Baby Boom!

Baby Barn Swallow preening

62 degrees at 6:45 a.m. A few clouds, but a really nice morning!

As soon as I arrived I heard a yellow warbler singing and pee sees calling from the woods.

There were young ones everywhere!!!!!! Tons of robin juveniles everywhere! Two or three baby barn swallows were perched in the lower gardens. This particular one (to left) was preening when all of a sudden, mom or dad came by. It opened it's beak and the parent actually fed it on the fly! Dropped something in and kept on going! Never saw that before…

Fluffy catbird babies were huddled in trees figuring out their next move… Goldfinches were flitting

Giant Sunflower

about. A common yellowthroat female popped out from a low bush with a "tick, tick, tick". The gardens are a riot of color with ripening veggies, huge sunflowers, lilies, dahlias, morning glory and all kinds of beautiful flora. Bunnies bounded away, their white tails flashing behind them. House wrens were singing and the babies could be heard from the box near the parking lot. A young flicker landed on a garden fence. Song sparrows were very busy on the ground looking for food.

A baby rose breasted grosbeak male flashed his bright red chest in the sunlight from a tree branch above me. No sign of a parent. Baby chickadees were out and about, so young that their colors

Rose-breasted Grosbeak baby

were not all crisped up yet. In fact all the young looked a little rough around the edges!

Then I saw a mystery bird (to right). I thought it must be some kind of a flycatcher. It was sort of olive gray on the outside, but quite yellow on its belly. It's long tail had a slightly brownish red cast to it. Not quite as big as a robin, but not small like a warbler either. Is it possible that it's a young great crested flycatcher? At one point another one came along and I couldn't tell if it was another young one or a parent. However, there was no sign of a crest, which is why I'm a little confused.

Young Flycatcher?

If anyone can ID, please let me know!

The upper gardens had a downy woodpecker and was equally as colorful as the lower. Lots of goodies hanging out in a tree, song sparrows flying here and there and a house wren feeding noisy babies in a birch bark bird house in someone's garden. Pee wees seemed to be calling from all sides in the woods. A mocking bird appeared. Haven't seen a lot of them this summer. Two oriole young were chasing each other and making a racket. I thought I saw a kinglet, but couldn't be sure. Definitely saw a baby yellow- throat though. Think I saw a baby red-eyed vireo and what I thought might be a blue gray gnatcatcher actually turned out to be a young male parula! I was so excited. I wonder if they bred at the park this summer… That would be so cool!

Blue Heron

Down near the soccer field, I heard the red-bellied woodpecker and saw some strange looking young in the trees. I really couldn't identify them. They looked gray with white chests and bellies, but there was so much going on and so many birds around like nuthatches and chickadees, I just couldn't figure it out. I also saw a different grayish baby that fanned it's tail in such a way that I thought it might be a very young redstart which would be very exciting.

I was so excited to see that our friend is back! The great blue that arrives in late July - early August. It was in the pond looking for something good to eat.